CHEF PROFILE Jen Gaber
Helping my mom in the kitchen from an early age, I was in awe of her creative, delicious cooking and cake decorating. I began my cooking career at the Kingston Inn in Galena, Illinois where the owners, Jeff & Antonia, served fine foods with Spanish Basque influences. I was trained there by Chef J.Faye Wolfe, a fomer cook at Alice's Restaurant on the East Coast, who encouraged me to go to cooking school.
I spent my internship at Ovens of Brittany, a restaurant I had always enjoyed visiting when in Madison. Soon, I moved to Madison and worked as a chef and kitchen manager for thirteen years at The Ivy Inn Hotel, Canterbury Booksellers Cafe, Luigi's, and as both a chef and baker at Monty's. In that time, I met and worked with many farmers and found it to be my favorite part of the job.
In April of 2009, I began Nutshell Catering as an outlet for my growing interest in sustainable food choices. I incorporate working with local farmers and producers, making fair trade choices for coffee and cocoa, visiting farmer markets, and collaborating with others to educate people about cooking and food choices. I enjoy working to accommodate special diets (vegan, wheat/gluten free) and love getting my hands dirty in the garden or at the food pantry gardens.
ORIGINS OF THE NUTSHELL
When I was 13, my family moved from a rural highway home to a home in town perched on a steep hill. Our garden shrunk considerably, as a Black Walnut tree dominated the yard. My brother and I attempted to make the best of the situation by harvesting the walnuts. They were easy to gather, but difficult to husk. Our fingers would be black and inky, soaked with their earthy, pungent scent. This tedious work, however, was not without reward – we were amazed to find that, if carefully cracked cleanly in half, the walnuts revealed, in their interior, one of the only heart shapes found in nature. This memory serves as a reminder for me of the simple joy that a relationship with food and nature can bring.
Years later, upon graduation from cooking school, my professor gave me some spices and a note with the advice that the secret ingredient should always be love. I thought it was a cheesy sentiment at the time, but it’s also true. As I’ve gained experience in cooking over the years, it has become clear that putting love into what I do is the most important aspect of the process. For me, this means working with fresh ingredients grown and foraged in my area. It means getting to know what matters to people and how foods, food rituals and history affect their happiness. It means getting back to gardening, getting my hands dirty, and learning all that I can.
Through Nutshell Catering, I bring together personal and professional experience to continue seeking and sharing love in nature and in food.